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STRATEGY FILE FOR SCENARIO
THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE UNITED PROVINCES:
THE END OF PAX HISPANICA
BY ALLARD H.S. HFELT
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THIS FILE GIVES YOU A BASIC STRATEGY
FOR IN THE EARLY TURNS OF THE GAME
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This file aims to help all players who can use a little help. If you do
not want to be helped and want to find out it all yourself, don't read
this file.

Playtesters:
-Tatu Ahponen <tatuahpo@pelu.jns.fi>
-Michael Jeszenka <michael@jeszenka.com>


THE DUTCH PLAYER.
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Your first task is to capture Amsterdam. Not only this will give you lots of $$
but it will stop the surrounding cities from being endangered, and help them
to produce a stable flow of units. Use all units in Amsterdam's surroundings
to free this city at high costs. Defense is not as formidable as it should be
in the early turns (due to internal problems of the city).
Use your fleet of many small ships to spot and attack any ship trying to land
on your shore. Try to become the master on the seas.
In the first turns, most action will be in the southwest and northeast. Defend
the best you can, but try to focus on the entire map. Especially in the beginning
there are a lot of badly guarded cities waiting to be plundered.
Once Amsterdam is liberated, the entire "Zuider-Zee" is yours. The Zuider-Zee is
the sea stretching from Enkhuizen to Amsterdam. Historically, this is the time that
Holland's great maritime power started to emerge. Build ships to start controlling
the seas from the north to as far as Zeeland (southwest). Once done, you can start
building more valuable land-units in those cities that are safely guarded.

But, during the first few turns, watch your coast under Den Haag very carefully.
A city is quickly lost, and perhaps even destroyed. Destroyed cities cannot be
replaced !!!

Now, you must build a large navy in "Zeeland". That is the half-water, half-land
area in the southwest from Antwerpen to Brielle, with its capital Middelburg, which
is in Spanish hands. You can also move your fleet from the Zuider-Zee to here, but
it will cost a long time. Attack the Spanish cities from the sea, if you haven't
taken them yet, but do not attack Antwerpen yet.
Build fireships, sailboats and frigates and -with maybe some British help- secure
the area. Once entire Zeeland is under your control, which can still be quite
difficult, it is time to concentrate on the other Spanish cities.

You can now start blockading the "Schelde", i.e. the small part of sea that links
Antwerpen to the North Sea.


The eastern front

For the Dutch player, the eastern front on the land in the northeast is an entirely
different story. Many relatively strong Spanish towns lie there. Use your armies
you get in the first turn very wisely. Chances are big that that army will be
destroyed. Since all units are busy fighting somewhere else, the only thing you
can do here is pray, hope and move all free units there. Remember, especially
in this scenario, try grouping your units. It's better to wait a while and attack
with 3 musketeers than 3 times with one.
But, the eastern front is far less important than the southern front. It's better
to concentrate most on the south, and once that's more stable on the east.

It is extremely difficult in this scenario to play on a two-front war. But, that's
what makes it fun.


General

The AI does a pretty good job in this scenario playing the Spanish. As English/French/
German it does less good. The only problems are that the AI foresees a bit your moves.
For example, the German army the Dutch have at the start of the scenario (in the north-
east). When you don't use this army to attack right away, but choose to flee away to
a safer area, the AI will follow you exactly. Whether this is because of excellent use
of scouting or because of AI cheating, I am unsure.


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More strategies have at this time not yet been completed. Feel free to send me
your strategy (ahofelt@hotmail.com) and you will be added asap to this text.